Cape Tribulation

proper noun

A headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas, northern Queensland, Australia.

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas, northern Queensland, Australia.

    I live in a quintessential (Australian) building type myself - a high-set 'Queenslander' on Captain Cook's tropical Cape Tribulation coast - and some of the details I love most about it are its Deco influences - [...].

    2021 October 20, Dr Joseph Brennan, “A key part of our diverse railway heritage”, in RAIL, number 942, page 56

Origin

Named by Captain James Cook for the "tribulation" caused when his ship ran aground on a reef.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Cape Tribulation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cape%20Tribulation

MLA

“Cape Tribulation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cape%20Tribulation. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cape Tribulation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cape%20Tribulation.

Source: Cape Tribulation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.